Clutch



lUNITED ASTATES PATENT; OFFICE.

EVERETT B. CUSHM'AN, 0F TOPEKA, KANSAS, AsSIGNoR TO'THE YPIERSENY MANU'- s FACTUBING COMPANY, or TOPEKA, KANSAS, A coRPoRATIoN oF KANSAS.

CLUTCH.

Appucaun med septemberao, 192e. kserial No. 411,418.

To all whom it may concern.' v

Be it known that LEVERETT B. CUSHMAN,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Topeka, in the'county ofShawnee and State of Kansas, have invented' certain'new and usefulImprovements in Clutches; and I doY declare `the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,-such as will enable others skilled in the art to the clutch mechanism .to provide for-ease of*V which it appertainsl to make and use the same, reference being had to the accom-y panying drawings, 'and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, whichy form a partof this specification.

This invention relates to clutches and particularly to means for releasably securing a pulley or the like to a shaft, oneof the objects being to simplify theY construction-'0f assemblage and-to insure efficient perform# ance of the clutch mechanism in operation.

In the drawings, Y Figure 1 is a sectional, perspective view ofv a pulley and clutch constructed in accordance with my invention, the shaft being shown in full lines.

Fig. .2 is a cross sectional view through theclutch mechanism, and Y. V

Fig. 3 is an end view showing the means for securing the clutch sleeve tothe shaft.

The invention is illustrated as comprising a sleeveV member 1, non-rotatably securedv upon the shaft 2 by a spline or key 3, which engages complementary grooves sleeve and shaft respectively. ,The outer end of .the sleeve 1 Vis notched or kerfed to provide a pluralityof slits 4, vwhereby the slit end of the sleeve may be contractedV about the shaft to secure it thereto. In order to constrict the sleeve end or bind it about the shaft,I have provided asplit collar 5 having lugs or projections 6 and 7 with alining openings, through which a clamping bolt 8 may pass to draw the lugs 6 and 7 together to bind the collar about the sleeve. Since the lugs or projections 6 and 7 are offset with respect to the collar,I have provided a counterbalance weight 9 on the collar, diametrically opposite to the lugs 6 and 7. The sleeve 1 is provided with a circumferential web 10 having anY offset cup or barrelshaped flange 11, provided with inwardly projecting lugs 12, which engage notches ork recesses 13 in the peripheries of friction disks or laminatins 14, interleaving with in ,the-

complementary disks 15 provided with substantially'rectangular yopenings 16, which engage rectangular shaped projections 17 on a cylinder ori-sleeve 18 integral with a removable end wall l19 ofthe pulley 20, thel cylindrical member 17 being sleeved upon a tubular releaser'21, in turn sleeved upon the shaft 2 and having a collar 22 to be engaged byv an actuator whereby the releaser may be .shifted longitudinally against the thrust bearing '23, interposed between the end of the releaserand a vcup-shaped actuator 24,

within the cup 11.. The cup-shaped actuator has a spring seat 25 against which one end ofv a 'co1l' sprmg 26 abuts, the yother endl abutting against the web 10, as clearly indicated in Fig-1,l Thecup-shaped actuator haszan inwardly projecting circumferential flange or annulusv 27,` adapted to Contact with the thrust bearing 23, when it is'actuated under stress of the expansion spring 26 to force the interleaving laminations or clutch engagement between `the shaft and thepulley 20.

The pulley20 is supported member 18 and by a hub flange 28, which is" loosely mounted upon the sleeve 1, the

longitudinal movement of which is limited vthe collar 5, as clearly vber l18 and corresponding openings 31 inthe `releaser 21.

The web 1()` and the end wall. 19 constitute a recess or housing 32, vwhich contains the main elements of the clutch mechanism by the tubular disks finto frictional engagement to leffect and protects them from dust, dirt and other Y foreign substances. V

In assembling the clutch mechanism, the releaser 21fmay first be sleeved upon the shaft, then the tubular member 18 may be sleeved thereon. The laminations, together with the cup-shaped actuator and the member consisting of the sleeve 1, its web and barrel together with the laminations,may then be assembled and the pulley may be sleeved over the sleeve 1 and secured to the end wall 19, after which the collar 5 may be put in place and clamped to bind the sleeve lrupon the shaft 2. The expansion Spring 26 will normally actuate the actuator to cause Yfrictional engagement between the interleaving laminae so that the clutch and pulley will be in clutched engagement. This engagement can bev relieved, however, by exerting force to impart a longitudinal movement to the releaser sleeve 21, causing it to exert thrust against the thrust bearing 23, which in turn exerts pressure against the flange 27 to compress the spring and relieve the frictional engagement between the lami- 'nae of therespective sets carried by thevbarrel-shaped member 11 and the tubular mem- -ber 18. Then the shaft 2 may run idly with respect to the pulley 20, or vice versa, dependent upon which is the driven element.

When pressure vagainst the thrust member 23 is relieved, the expansion spring will,V again effect clutchengagement between the pulley and the shaft. If desired, the tubular member 18 may contain a sprocket rimV 33 so that a sprocket may be substituted for a belt or viceversa..

From thev foregoing it will be apparent that a clutch pulleyconstructed in accordance withmy invention may be readily at'- tached to a shaft in such a manner that it maybe conveniently held in clutch engagement but temporarily released therefrom,

ved lto efficiently function for the that the parts are simple in construction, well protected, and that the deviceis adaptpurpose mtended. t f

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is:

1. In combination, a shaft', a sleeve` rigidly mounted on said shaft, a cup-shaped member mounted on said shaft, a cup-shaped'member integral with the sleeve, la pulley on the sleeve and having an inturned flange comprising a tubular memberjmounted Vabouti the shaft and extending concentricallvwithin the cup-shaped member, interleaving laminations carried by the cup-shaped member and the tubular member respectively, a spring-pressed actuator within f ,the cupshaped member and normally exerting force f against'the laminations to move them into frictional contact, and means forlongitudi-V nally shifting the actuator t relieve` fric-V tional engagement between the laminations to permit -the pulley to rotate independently of the shaft or viceversa. l

In combination, a sha-ft, a' sleeve rigidly mounted on said shaft, a-.fcup-shape'd mem# ber carriedy by the .sleeve,'a pulley housing Ainclosingthecupshaped member, said pulley housing having an inwardly extending,

tubular flange, interleaving'.laminations car-A byr, the tubular flange fand*V the cup?` shaped member respectively, an actuator for normally forcing'the respective laminations into, frictional contact, and/means for shifting the actuator out offunctional position.

v4. In combination,a shaft, ra sleeve rigidly mounted on said shaft', a cup-shaped member carried by lthel'sleeve, a pulley'housing Yin-'L closing the cup-shaped member, an Vinwardly proj ectingflangecarried bythepulley housing vand'extending within the cup-shaped member, .coperating clutch `rmembers car-.

ried the cupfshaped vmember and the in wardly extending- 'flange'on the pulley housing, alongitudinally shiftable actuator comprising a diskhaving a spring seat,a flange extending inwardlyv from the spring seat,Y

a spring interposedbetween vthe spring, seat and vone end :of the. cup-shapedfmember, a-

thrust bearing contacting the inwardly prdjecting flange of the actuator, and a' longitudinally shiftable sleeve member' within the inwardlyV projecting flange 'of the 'pulley housing'and upon the shaft, V'the movement of the longitudinally shiftable member in one' direction being effective to shift the actuator from functional position; i

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EVERETT B. CUSHMAN. 

